Disaster Research 217

February 28, 1997

Table of contents

1. Seeking Information/Opinions on Security Implications of "Natural" Disasters
2. Seeking Comments/Feedback on Emergency Plan
3. Introducing UK-Med
4. Help Wanted - OFDA
5. Lots o' Net Stuff
6. A New Series from EENET
7. What's On at AEMI
8. Conferences and Training

Sincerely,
Denis Arsenault
Carleton University
Ottawa, Canada
darsena2@ccs.carelton.ca

I would like very much to contact people, who would be willing to review what I am doing from the perspective of emergency management professionals. A somewhat primitive subset of what I have developed so far is at the following URL:
http://members.aol.com/ebuckler/cover.htm

The entire document is about 200 pages of hypertext to date, which far exceeds AOL's 2 MB limit, so I have had to drastically prune it to fit. As a result, I am afraid that you will find missing sections and broken links, until I can find an Internet service provider who will donate space for the entire system. However, enough is available on AOL to demonstrate what I am trying to do.

Any comments or suggestions would be welcome. Thank you.

Ed Buckler
HCR 1, Box 131-G
Free Union, VA 22940
(804) 985-3002
ebuckler@aol.com

The organisation has experience working in the Armenia situation, the Iranian earthquake, the Kurdish refugee crisis in Iran, throughout the former Yugoslavia during the war - particularly working in Sarajevo - and the Cape Verde volcano. The organisation is based at the Emergency Department, North Staffordshire Hospital, Windsor House, 223 Princes Road, Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire. U.K.; tel +44 1782 716503; e-mail: Mark Prescott, prescottm@msn.com

Send resumes to: Naseema Saleem, USAID/BHR/OFDA/PS, Room 1262A NS, Department of State, Washington, D.C. 20523-0008; fax: (202) 647-5269; e-mail: nsaleem@usaid.gov.

Here are some of the recent hazard/disaster Web sites we've encountered. An extensive list of useful sites is available from the Natural Hazards Center World Wide Web page: http://adder.colorado.edu/~hazctr/sites.html

http://www.eeri.org
The Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) Web site, which seems to be growing by leaps and bounds, now includes "Seismic Legislation on the Web" - a page that provides links to various pieces of state and federal legislation addressing seismic safety. Initially the site includes full text of acts currently in effect; at this time, it does not include pending legislation.

http://www.consrv.ca.gov/dmg/
The California Department of Conservation's Division of Mines and Geology and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have identified the areas of California most likely to experience damaging ground shaking, and they have published their findings in a report entitled "Probabilistic Seismic Hazards Assessment for the Sate of California." The resulting "Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Map" is available from this Web site, as are "Preliminary Maps of Proposed Seismic Hazard Zones," "Draft Guidelines for Evaluating and Mitigating Seismic Hazards," and other information on seismic hazards in California.

http://geohazards.cr.usgs.gov/northridge/
This is the electronic version of the USGS Open-File Report #96- 263, "USGS Response to an Urban Earthquake - Northridge '94." It covers the USGS and other National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) agency responses to the Northridge quake, the setting and geology of the event, resulting ground failure and landslides, damage to structures, as well as the communication and policy implications of the response.

http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/
We've mentioned this excellent earthquake information site before, and, like all good Web sites, it has been updated. Provided by the USGS's Menlo Park, California office, the site includes information on the latest quakes, a hazards and preparedness section, and pages providing additional background about earthquakes, information on studying earthquakes, and a good guide to both on-line and off-line resources

http://www.epa.gov/globalwarming
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agencies' "Global Warming Web Site" touts itself as "your window to the global warming issue," and goes on to say, "at this web site you will find information pertaining to the science of global warming; current and projected impacts of global warming; international and U.S. Government policies and programs; opportunities for individuals and corporations to help stop global warming; state and local actions that help mitigate greenhouse gas emissions; and, easy ways to obtain more information by fax, email and electronic order form."

http://www.salemdug.dis.anl.gov
The State and Local Emergency Management Data Users Group (SALEMDUG) is an association of state, local, and federal emergency management personnel who share an interest in fostering the use of computers and computer networks to support emergency management programs and activities. The SALEMDUG bulletin board system (BBS) was/is one of the first widespread systems of computer communication in the world regarding disasters. The organization has now moved into the Web era with this new SALEMDUG Web site, which offers SALEMDUG background information, recent news items, SALEMDUG conference information, copies of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Preparedness, Training and Exercises (PT&E) Directorate Newsletter, links to other useful Web sites, and, most importantly, access to the SALEMDUG BBS.

http://www.tornadoproject.com
The "Tornado Project Online" offers basic tornado information, tornado data, tornado myths and FAQs, tornado oddities, personal accounts of tornado experiences, guidance on tornado safety, tornado history, and information about more recent tornadoes. The site also lists tornado videos and books available from the Tornado Project-an endeavor to document and catalog all damaging U.S. tornadoes - as well as information on other kinds of disasters.

http://www.nssl.noaa.gov
The National Severe Storms Laboratory is one of the Environmental Research Laboratories of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Headquartered in Norman, Oklahoma, the NSSL, in partnership with the National Weather Service, is dedicated to improving the nation's severe weather warnings and forecasts in order to save lives and reduce property damage. This NSSL Web site includes general information about the lab and the research it undertakes. For persons interested in severe weather (especially students) the site includes a "Weather Room" - with sections on "Phenomena," "Weather Careers," "Weather Lessons," and "Interesting Weather Things" (links to other Web sites and weather data). The NSSL also maintains a large bibliographic data base on winter weather at http://doplight.nssl.uoknor.edu/projects/nbd.

http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/~spc/
http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/~spc/archive
Another part of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction is the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma. The SPC forecasts severe and non-severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, and other hazardous weather phenomena across the conterminous U.S. 24 hours a day, every day of the year. The center's home page says, "During the next several years, we plan to gradually build our array of products and services to include many forms of hazardous weather guidance, in addition to severe local storms. This web site will grow with us and with your needs." The current site pages include "What We Do," "Forecast Products," "Severe Storm Stats," "Online Archives," "SPC Software," "Staff Page," "Publications," "Latest Cool Image," "SPC/SELS History," and "Today's Users." The SPC archives (see the URL above) offer copious historical data on such things as tornado damage, deaths, and injuries by region, and wind and hail damage by year.

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/oh/tt/xwater/index.html
Recognizing that nearly half of all flood-related deaths occur in vehicles when people drive into low-lying flooded areas, several months ago the National Weather Service Office of Hydrology released a video entitled, "The Hidden Danger, Low-Water Crossings." The office has recently complimented the video with this educational home page, which includes a driving test, safety rules, videos, and photos.

http://www.cswnet.com/~mariecvt/disaster.htm
This "Veterinary Medicine Disaster Area," sponsored by the American Academy of Veterinary Disaster Medicine and the Humane Society of the United States, includes sections on disaster planning, disaster training, and disaster response, as well as updates regarding recent disaster events.

http://www.dir.ucar.edu/esig/socasp/vjournal.html
The Weather Impacts VJournal is an electronic journal that periodically presents a list of scholarly publications (articles, books, reports, conference papers, etc.) relevant to the societal aspects of weather. VJournal attempts to look across all disciplines and publications to come up with an up-to-date listing of scholarly publications. The journal is a community effort and relies on reader contributions. Anyone knowing of good resources can submit them by e-mail to thunder@ucar.edu (please include full reference information) or through an on-line form at: http://www.dir.ucar.edu/esig/socasp/forms/vform.html.

A VJournal e-mail distribution list provides periodic updates of citations and alleviates having to continuously monitor the Web page. To subscribe, send an e-mail to majordomo@ucar.edu and in the body of the message state: SUBSCRIBE vjournal

gopher://gopher.ucar.edu:70/11/ncarucar/esig/
Roger Pielke of the National Center for Atmospheric Research's Environmental and Society Impacts Group (ESIG - the outfit that publishes the journal mentioned above) has produced an extensive bibliography on Hurricane Andrew societal impacts that is available from this gopher site.

http://www.entremkt.com/feat
The Franchise Emergency Action Team (FEAT) is a coalition of major franchise businesses that have pooled their resources to help communities with all aspects of disasters - awareness, preparedness, response, and recovery. Much additional information about this project is available from the Web site above.

http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/534189.html
The University of Chicago Press will soon release Mark Monmonier's new book, "Cartographies of Danger," which looks at how well America maps its natural and technological hazards as well as social hazards such as crime and disease. In conjunction with the release of this book, the press asked Mark to provide a list of the country's ten most hazardous places. His top ten (or is that bottom ten?) list is available on the web at the address above. Information about the book itself is available at: http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/hfs.cgi/00/13244.ctl. Mark Monmonier is professor of geography at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov
The Web site of the Cascades Volcano Observatory has added lots of new, useful on-line documents, including:

"Volcano Hazards from Mount Rainier, Washington." R.P. Hoblitt, J.S. Walder, C.L. Driedger, K.M. Scott, P.T. Pringle, and J.W. Vallance. Open-File Report 95-273. 1995. WWW: http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/Rainier/Hazards/.

"Volcanic-Hazard Zonation for Mount St. Helens, Washington, 1995." Edward W. Wolfe and Thomas C. Pierson. Open-File Report 95-497.1995. WWW: http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/MSH/Hazards/.

"Volcano Hazards in the Mount Adams Region, Washington." William E. Scott, Richard M. Iverson, James W. Vallance, and Wes Hildreth. Open-File Report 95-492. 1995. WWW: http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/Adams/Hazards/.

"Volcanic-Hazard Zonation for Glacier Peak Volcano, Washington." Richard B. Waitt, Larry G. Mastin, and James E. Beget. Open-File Report 95-499. 1995. WWW: http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/GlacierPeak/Hazards/.

"Potential Volcanic Hazards from Future Activity of Mount Baker, Washington." Cynthia A. Gardner, Kevin M. Scott, C. Dan Miller, Bobbie Myers, Wes Hildreth, and Patrick T. Pringle. Open-File Report 95-498. 1995. WWW: http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/Baker/Hazards/.

Beginning on February 19 and continuing on the third Wednesday of each month, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Emergency Education Network (EENET) will broadcast "National Alert," a 90-minute program that will include segments covering a national "hot topic" in emergency management; special information for first responders; training features produced by a national network of first response personnel; and the latest news from both the National Emergency Training Center (NETC) and FEMA regarding emergency management activities, problems, and issues. For more information, contact: EENET, NETC, 16825 South Seton Avenue, Emmitsburg, MD 21727; 1-800- 527-4893 or (301) 447-1068; fax: (301) 447-1363; e-mail: sdownin@fema.gov.

   Disaster Mitigation Workshop               April 28- May 2, 1997
   Community Emergency Risk Management:
     Developing Strategies and Partnerships
     Workshop                                 August 4-8, 1997
   Community Personal Support Following
     Disasters Workshop                       September 8-12, 1997
   Legal Issues in Emergency Management       October 6-10, 1997

For more information, contact AEMI, Main Road, Mt. Macedon, Victoria 3441, Australia; tel: (03) 5421 5100; fax: (03) 5421 5273; e-mail: rfleming@ema.gov.au.

These are the latest conference announcements received by the Natural Hazards Center. Most previous issues of DR contain additional notices. For a comprehensive list of upcoming disaster-related meetings and training, see our World Wide Web page: http://adder.colorado.edu/~hazctr/conf.html

Evaluation and Mitigation of Earthquake Induced Liquefaction Hazards - 1997 Comprehensive Overview - short course. San Francisco, California: March 13-14, 1997. Contact: Professor Tim D'Orazio, Department of Civil Engineering, San Francisco State University; (415) 338-2262; e-mail: ejkuczynsk@aol.com.

World Water Day Worldwide Video Conference. March 22, 1997. Contact: http://www.netcafe.interbusiness.it/users/wwd/ - or - gopher://gopher.un.org/00/conf/wssd/pc-3/bkg/950227122401.txt

Virtual Diplomacy: The Global Communications Revolution and International Conflict Management (including sessions on ReliefWeb and international crisis management). Washington, D.C.: April 1-2, 1997. Contact: United States Institute of Peace, 1550 M Street, N.W,, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20005-1708; tel: (202) 429-3832; e-mail: virtual_diplomacy@usip.org; WWW: http://www.usip.org/virtual_dipl.html

Twelfth Annual State and Local Emergency Management Data Users Group (SALEMDUG) Conference. Sponsors: Federal Emergency Management Agency and SALEMDUG. Nashville, Tennessee: April 6-9, 1997. Contact: Diane Pryor or Pat Bohannon, SALEMDUG '97 Conference, Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, 3041 Sidco Drive, Nashville, TN 37204-1502; (800) 258-3300.

Fifth International Conference on Southern Hemisphere Meteorology and Oceanography: The Impact of Weather and Climate on the Developing World. Pretoria, South Africa: April 7-11, 1997. Contact: Conference Planners, P.O. Box 36782, Menlo Park, South Africa 0102; tel/fax: 27- 12-46-0170; e-mail: confplan@iafrica.com.

International Symposium on Cyclones and Hazardous Weather in the Mediterranean. Palma de Mallorca, Spain: April 14-18, 1997. Contact: Symposium Palma 97, Centro Meteorologico de Baleares, Muelle de Poniente s/n (Portopi), 07071 Palma de Mallorca, Spain; fax: +34 71 404 626; e-mail: jansa@inm.es.

19th Annual National Hurricane Conference. Sponsors: American Meteorological Society and many others. Houston, Texas: April 22-25, 1997. Contact: National Hurricane Conference, 864 East Park Avenue, Tallahassee, FL 32301; (904) 561-1163; fax: (904) 561-1172; WWW: http://www.nettally.com/nhc .

Fire Africa '97 Conference and Exhibition and Disaster Challenge '97. The Disaster Challenge will allow international teams to compete under simulated emergency situations. Contact: Conference Convenor, +27-12-348 6323; or write: Fire Africa '97, P.O. Box 12120, Hatfield 0028, South Africa.

The Association for Arid Lands Studies 20th Annual Conference. Albuquerque, New Mexico: April 23-26, 1997. Contact: Roger Baty, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Redlands, 1200 East Colton Avenue, P.O. Box 3080, Redlands, CA 92373-0999; tel: (909) 793-2121, ext. 4284; fax: (909) 793-2029; e-mail: baty@jasper.uor.edu.

Business Recovery Managers Symposium. Offered by: MIS Training Institute. Orlando, Florida: April 29-May 1, 1997 (optional workshops April 28 & May 2). Contact: MIS Training Institute, 498 Concord Street, Framingham, MA 01702-2357; tel: (508) 879-7999; fax: (508) 872-1153; e-mail: mis@misti.ccmail.compuserve.com; WWW: www.misti.com.

Survive! Business Continuity Group Spring Conference. Kensington, London, U.K.: April 29-May 1, 1997. Contact: Survive! Secretariat, The Chapel, Royal Victoria Patriotic Building, Fitzhugh Grove, London SW18 3SX, U.K.; tel: 0181-874 6266; fax: 0181-874 6446; e-mail: surviveuk@cityscape.co.uk; WWW: http://www.survive.com.

Water Resources Systems Short Course: Hierarchical-Multiobjective Approach in Water Resources Planning and Management. 1997 Theme: Risk Assessment and Management (includes sections on management of natural and human-caused hazards). Offered by the Center for Risk Management of Engineering Systems and the Systems Engineering Department, University of Virginia. Charlottesville, Virginia: May 5-9, 1997. Contact: Center for Risk Management of Engineering Systems, University of Virginia, Thornton Hall, Charlottesville, VA 22903; (804) 924-0960; fax: (804) 924-0865.

Combating Desertification: Connecting Science with Community Action. Sponsors: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management; and the International Arid Lands Consortium. Tucson, Arizona: May 12- 16, 1997. Contact: Beaumont C. McClure, Bureau of Land Management, Arizona State Office, P.O. Box 16563, Phoenix, AZ 85011-6563; tel: (602) 650-0206; fax: (602) 650-0398; e-mail: bmcclure@attmail.com.

PRO Preparedness & Self-Reliance Expo. Tulsa, Oklahoma: May 23-25, 1997. Exhibits and lectures relating to disaster preparedness and self-reliant living. See: http://www.opta.org/prep.htm.

FireExpo '97 Trade Show - held in conjunction with the Second International Wildland Fire Conference. Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada: May 28-30, 1997. Contact: Robert Gray, P.O. Box 1898, Sumas, WA, USA 98295; tel: (604) 824-8726.

Response '97. Sponsor: National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR). Richmond, VA: May 28-31, 1997. Contact: NASAR, 4500 Southgate Place, Suite 100, Chantilly, VA 20151-1714; (703) 222-6277; fax: (703) 222-6283; WWW: http://www.nasar.org.

Massachusetts Association of Hazardous Material Technicians (MAHMT) Annual Conference. Hyannis, Massachusetts: June 16-17, 1997. Contact: Martin Greene, MAHMT, c/o Bourne F.D., 130 Main Street, Buzzards Bay, MA 02532.

Bushfire 97 - Fire as a Land Management Tool. Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia: July 8-11, 1997. Contact: Barbie McKaige, CSIRO Tropical Ecosystems Research Centre, PMB 44, Winnellie NT 0821, Australia: e-mail: barbie.mckaige@terc.csiro.au.

International Scientific Research Conference on Forest Fires. Tomsk, Russia: July 10-15, 1997. Contact: A.M. Grishin, Tomsk State University, 36 Lenin Avenue, Tomsk, 634050 Russia; e-mail: fire@fire.tsu.tomsk.su.

Coastal Zone '97. Boston, Massachusetts: July 20-26, 1997. Contact: Chantal Lefebvre, Urban Harbors Institute, University of Massachusetts-Boston, 100 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston, MA 02125-3393; tel: (617) 287-5576; fax; (617) 287-5575; e-mail: lefebvre@umbsky.cc.umb.edu.

Colloquium on a Systems Approach to El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO): Oceanic, Atmospheric, Societal, Environmental, and Policy Perspectives. Sponsor: National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Environmental and Societal Impacts Group (ESIG), Advanced Study Program (ASP), and others. Boulder, Colorado: July 20-August 1, 1997. Contact: Barbara Hansford, NCAR/ASP, P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307; fax: (303) 497-1646; e-mail: barbm@ucar.edu; WWW: http://www.dir.ucar.edu/esig/ENSO_colloquium.html.

1997 Fire Prevention Symposium. Sponsor: Building Officials and Code Administrators (BOCA) International, Inc. Louisville, Kentucky: July 24-25, 1997. Contact: BOCA Professional Development Series, 4051 West Flossmoor Road, Country Club Hills, IL 60478-5795; (708) 799-2300, ext. 329.

Search Rescue/Disaster Response '97. Nashville, Tennessee: July 25-27, 1997. Session proposals are now being accepted and should be directed to: SR/DR97 Conference Management Team, c/o Emergency Publishing Links U.S., 1508 East 86th Street, Suite 315, Indianapolis, IN 46240; fax: (317) 475-9403; e-mail: pscadmin@aol.com. Queries about exhibiting or registration should be sent to: SR/DR97, attn: Scott Samuels, 2413 West Algonquin Road, Suite 411, Algonquin, IL 60102; tel: (847) 458-0420; fax: (847) 458-0421; e-mail: srdr97@aol.com

Northridge Earthquake Research Conference. Sponsors: California Universities for Research in Earthquake Engineering and others. Los Angeles, California: August 20-22, 1997. Abstracts due April 2. Contact: Northridge Earthquake Research Conference, California Universities for Research in Earthquake Engineering, 1301 South 46th Street, Richmond, CA 94804; (510) 231-9557; fax: (510) 231-5664; e-mail: curee@nisee.ce.berkeley.edu.

Nature's Workshop: Environmental Change in Twentieth Century Southern California. Organizers: The Southern California Environment and History Conference Planning Group. Northridge, California: September 18-20, 1997. A call for papers has been issued; topics include hazards related to environmental change. Proposals should be submitted to the Southern California Environment and History Conference, c/o Center for Southern California Studies, California State University, Northridge, CA 91330-8371, attn: Lorna Fenenbock, Conference Coordinator. Additional information is available from: Chrys Rodrigue, Center for Hazards Research, California State University, Chico; e-mail: crodrigue@oavax.csuchico.edu; or call (818) 677-6518; fax: (818) 677-7115; e-mail: scehc@csun.edu.

Second Colorado Wildfire Seminar. Golden, Colorado: September 26-28, 1997. Contact: Phill Queen, (209) 836-4078; e-mail: batchief@aol.com.

Canada-U.S. Wildland Fire Safety Summit. Sponsors: International Association of Wildland Fire (IAWF) and others. Rossland, British Columbia, Canada: September 30-October 2, 1997. Abstracts due June 15. Contact: IAWF, P.O. Box 328, Fairfield, WA 99012; fax: (509) 283-2264; e-mail: greenlee@cet.com.

Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) 1997 Annual Meeting. Washington, D.C.: December 7-10, 1997. Contact: SRA, 1313 Dolley Madison Boulevard, Suite 402, McLean, VA 22101; (703) 790-1745; WWW: http://www.sra.org.

International Workshop on Nonstructural Flood Control in Urban Areas. Sponsor: UNESCO - International Hydrological Program, and others. Sao Paulo, Brazil: April 20-22, 1998. Contact: Professor Benedito Braga, International Research and Training Center in Urban Drainage (IRTCUD) - Regional Center for Tropical Climates (RCTC), c/o Depto. de Engenharia Hidraulica, Escola Politecnica - USP, Av. Prof. Almeida Prado, 271, 05508-900 Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil; tel: (+55) (11) 818- 5396; fax: (+55) (11) 818-5423; e-mail: benbraga@usp.br.

Eleventh European Conference on Earthquake Engineering. Paris, France: September 6-11, 1998. Abstracts due July 31, 1997. Contact Conference Organizers, c/o AFPS Secretariat, 4, avenue du Recteur Poincare, 75782 Paris Cedex 16, France; tel: (33-1) 40 50 28 34; fax: (33-1) 45 25 61 51; WWW: http://dfc2.enpc.fr/ecee11.

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